The Process
Understanding your needs
Contact me by phone or by sending a message and I will arrange a mutually convenient time for an online call, telephone call, or visit to discuss your needs in depth and to help us both understand what value I will be able to deliver for you.
If the scope of your requirements is broad or undefined, I may propose a mini-project of one or more detailed discovery sessions to help you understand what you need. This will develop a clear idea of what the scope and details of your project are, with a proportionate level of documentation to enable you to proceed to the next stage. There is no obligation to select me to deliver your solution.
Proposal
If I believe I can give you a good return on your investment through a standard or bespoke solution, I will prepare a proposal that details the options available to meet your needs and the price for each option.
Note, I am giving you a price for the different options for your solution; that is a fixed price, not an estimate that is subject to change.
My proposals will be time limited, but I will contact you before the expiry to ensure you don't miss out.
- If you are not interested, no problem, but please let me know and ideally tell me why to help me improve.
- If you are interested, great, I'll book you in and we'll take it from there.
Delivery
I will:
- explore the detail of what is needed within the scope of your agreed outcomes.
- agree any actions that you need to do to support us such as providing content, providing any images or logos, and providing any data structure specifications and sample data needed to design your solution.
- start building
- arrange regular show and tell sessions to check in and ensure you are happy with what I am producing for you.
- ask you to test and review work. When we are both happy that delivery is complete, then we'll agree handover steps with you
- give you appropriate guidance, training, and manuals, where applicable for using and maintaining your solution.
After care
I want you to be satisfied with what I create for you. Not every bug or tweak needed will be identified during testing. Some will only be identified through actual use. Assuming that key environment factors haven't changed (or are not relevant) I will fix issues that arise with your solution within a reasonable time frame. I will identify and agree this time frame with you when we discuss your needs.
Payment
Timing of payments
Project work
I offer two options for payment of project based work:
- Payment in full before I start
- Payment of 50% before I start and the remaining 50% on a mutually agreeable date.
If hourly or daily billing has been agreed, then invoicing will be monthly with payment 30 days in arrears.
Support or advisory retainer
Monthly invoice at the start of the month with payment in 28 days.
Payment methods
I offer a range of payment methods to suit your needs, depending on whether the payments are for projects or regular support or advisory costs.
Project payments
- BACS
- Direct Debit
- Credit/Debit Card via Stripe
Support or advisory payments
- BACS
- Standing Order
- Direct Debit
Payment method for international clients will be discussed and agreed on a case by case basis.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where are you based?
I'm based in the village of High Spen; a former mining village near Rowlands Gill in Tyne and Wear. High Spen is within the borough of Gateshead.
Will you come to my office?
Short answer: Yes, for meetings and workshops
Long answer: Yes, though it depends on the size and complexity of your project and the stage we are at. It also depends how far you are away; travelling a long distance takes time and costs money. Sometimes, a project will need face to face discussions and if the project is a good fit for my business then I will travel. I would normally expect a large proportion of our communication to take place using collaboration tools and video conferencing.
Will you work with organisations outside of the UK?
Maybe.
I am open to working with international clients, if we are a good fit. Each project will be considered on its own merits.
Will you bill us on an hourly or daily basis?
Maybe.
If your organisation requires this, but otherwise the project is a good fit, then we will work with this.
If the project requires a discovery period to understand the scope and the expected benefits, then it may be that this is better suited to hourly or daily billing.
What if our requirements change?
Things change. That's life. My experience of being a client of different suppliers when requirements change has shown the kind of approach that leaves a bad taste in your mouth, and what makes you feel you're getting a good deal.
I take a pragmatic approach to requirement changes:
- If these changes are minor in scope and still contribute to the original goals that we agreed, I will seek to accommodate them at no additional charge;
- If these changes do not contribute to the original goals, I'll advise that these are looked at as a separate project to ensure we maintain focus on your goals;
- If these change are more significant in scope but still relate to the original goals I'll explore with you the options for accommodating them.
Of course, if you've asked for hourly or daily billing, and if the change takes more time, then the cost will be higher.
